History Leads To Forts Which Lead To
by tiltherewasyou
Summary: "Is it okay if I spend the night? I want to give Rachel the full sleepover-birthday experience!" She knows she's a shoe in. Hiram has a soft spot for pretty blonde cheerleaders that used to torment his daughter. - Written for Faberry week day 2 - Sleepover


Day 2 – Sleepover

A/N – Takes place during Senior Year. Pretend Finchel isn't a thing at the time because that's what I have to do to sleep at night. Just kidding. As always, I don't own Glee or anything related and feel free to read and review this story! I might come back and make this a two-shot after Faberry week is over. What do you guys think? It would show more of the sleepover.

Rachel's living Room

She's not sure how she ended up here on a Saturday evening. At Rachel frickin' Berry's house, sitting in the living room drinking grape juice and eating "an assortment of vegan treats that will stimulate our brain capacities!" because that is what Rachel referred to them as and that's seriously what she views them as now, 3 hours later. They've been at this "studying for finals" thing for 3 hours and Quinn doesn't understand why Rachel even bothers – tomorrow is her birthday of all things! It's not like either of them aren't smart enough to pass this World History course with their eyes closed. It's AP, sure, but it's Ohio. Ohio AP is totally different. And okay, maybe Quinn should get off of her high horse but it isn't like she just got into YALE or anything as Rachel frequently reminds her.

That's why she's here. They're kind of friends and Rachel is actually decent. If Quinn lets herself, she realizes Rachel is way more than decent and more like beautiful, perfect, _sexy, _and so kind. She doesn't let herself realize most of the time.

She looks up from her alphabetized flashcards because **Rachel Berry is nothing if not organized **and she smiles at the vision. Rachel has her hair up in a ponytail with minimal makeup and her eyes incredibly focused on the textbooks in front of her. "Seriously, Rach… there's only one textbook for this class." She says as she tries to hide her smile.

Rachel smiles that beamer then, and it's everything Quinn can do not to flash it right back.

"So it would appear, but Quinn. You can't seriously expect to ace this with just those Flashcards. She said it would cover everything we've covered in class so far as well as the assigned readings and extra credit projects. I simply do not see how a lady worthy of a Yale education would not take all of the necessary precautions to…."

She zones out a bit before she interrupts with: "SERIOUSLY! Rachel, it's time to take a break."

They had been sitting in that living room studying for hours. Well, Rachel was studying history. If Quinn is honest, which she's trying to be more and more these days… she's been mixing it up between studying history and studying the girl across from her. The afternoon had been rather pleasant, and Quinn is saddened that soon she'll have to leave and go home. Spending time with Rachel is different than with any of her other friends. If someone had told her a year ago, heck, a month ago that being around Rachel Berry actually makes for a quiet evening, she would have laughed in their face.

But now she gets it, and she's actually having fun, so as they wonder into the kitchen, Quinn still feels right at home in this house.

When Hiram sees them coming, he smiles to himself, knowing something he thinks the girls haven't quite figured out yet. He sees Quinn's shadow, the ever-present gloom of the person she was previously. He also sees Rachel's shadow, though. It's a little harder to spot under the show smile and the change of clothes she bought to school every day for 3 years. But he knows how they play into each other's stories. He gets that Quinn takes Rachel out of her shadow self by removing the threat of other students and providing a truly genuine friendship, even if it is from the least likely of places. He also sees how Rachel pulls Quinn out of her inner-gloom, encouraging her to see herself in a new light and to see who she might become. He thinks it's beautiful and he thinks Rachel's new smile is beautiful. He also thinks Quinn is beautiful, and he can't wait for the day that he can tell her that as something of a father figure, he was never prouder of her than the night she gave up her Saturday to "study history" with his baby girl just so she might have a good birthday weekend. He and Quinn certainly hold some similarities.

As he muses this to himself, it's only partially selfish when he asks, "Rachela! Is Lucille Quinneth staying for dinner?" Because he watches both of his girls, and like it or not, Quinneth has been "his girl" for about a month now, light up and smile ever so shyly at each other. Yes, Rachela's going to have a beautiful birthday without a hitch… he's got a good feeling about tonight.

"Lucille Quinneth… Be careful old man! I might just haunt you in your sleep." Quinn says as she hides her face, somehow, behind 4 inches shorter Rachel.

As they prepare for dinner, Rachel and Quinn are washing up in Rachel's en suite bathroom. Quinn catches Rachel's eye in the mirror before quickly deflecting.

"So, what do you want for your birthday, superstar?" she asks the girl in front of her.

At this Rachel sighs and shakes her head.

"To be honest, Quinn… you've already given me what I wanted. I didn't want to hang out with just my dads or be alone."

Quinn is taken aback by this comment. "You had a boyfriend during your birthday last year, Rach. You mean to tell me he didn't do stuff with you on your birthday?"  
The responding shake of a head breaks something in Quinn. She's always been the kind to wade the waters slowly. She thinks it's maybe a sign that with Rachel Berry, she's always just jumped right in. In spite of that disturbing realization, the next thing she knows she's walking over to Rachel's "in house intercom" (because every superstar needs a freakin' intercom to talk to her dads downstairs. Quinn admits it's a lot better than the yelling that would occur if it were her house.).

"DAD'S BERRY!" she yells anyway… it's always a little more fun in the Berry house than her own.

"Yes, Lucille Quinneth?" comes a unified answer over the intercom.

"Is it okay if I spend the night? I want to give Rachel the full sleepover-birthday experience!" She knows she's a shoe in. Hiram has a soft spot for pretty blonde cheerleaders that used to torment his daughter. Just ask Brittany.

"Sure, just come on for supper now!"

The hug Rachel gives her lasts just a few seconds too long to be friendly, but Quinn thinks it was actually far too short.

After dinner, the girls run over to Quinn's car to grab her "emergency overnight bag", and its' purpose isn't lost on Rachel. She thinks about how far Quinn has come since the incident, how much about her demeanor and personality has changed. But still, underneath the many layers of Quinn Fabray is a metal armor so thick, no arrow would ever penetrate it again with force. It would take love, friendship, caring… conveniently all things Rachel has known for a while that, provided the opportunity, she would freely give Quinn. The overnight bag is a symbol of never actually letting her mom entirely back in. The overnight bag is actually an "in case everything changes in a matter of seconds again" bag. Rachel wonders if tonight will help her get closer to helping Quinn take off her armor.

Settling into Rachel's room, Rachel is suddenly feeling very shy about the evening. The only sleepover she's ever had was with Mercedes and Kurt and she wore embarrassing pajamas and even though they're sort of friends now, Rachel still wants more than anything for Quinn to think of her as someone cool, someone worth liking, someone worth having a sleepover with. Although, she supposes that Quinn wouldn't have volunteered if she didn't want this to happen. Rachel relaxes a bit at that thought, then asks, "Quinn?"

"Yeah Rach?" is muffled from the other side of the room.

Her insecurities fight, but she gets the best of them. "I'm not actually sure what actually happens at real sleepovers… with Mercedes and Kurt we kind of just diva out and we talk about boys which is clearly out of the question for us because of our history. What exactly do you plan to do because I don't want to bore you to death?"

Quinn is beside her in an impressive moment. Hands on her cheeks shock her and pull her eyes off of the ground. Quinn's eyes are certainly stunning. And oh! She's talking…

"Rachel, tonight is your night. Tomorrow you turn 18, and we're going to celebrate that however you see fit. If you want me to score some alcohol, I will. If you want to play board games with your dads, I will. But don't expect me to take it easy on them. If you want me to build us a fort to watch movies in, I will. Whatever you want within reason, superstar."

Rachel is shocked by the sincerity of Quinn's tone. Maybe cracking Quinn's armor wouldn't be so hard after all.

Rachel takes a gamble when she asks: "If we build the fort to watch a movie, can we cuddle in it?"

The smile that breaks out on Quinn's face tells her that the gamble was definitely, definitely worth it. Quinn leans forward and kisses her forehead.

"Anything for you, birthday superstar."

When they wake up the next morning in a blanket fort and Quinn's arm wrapped around her waist and her face buried in her hair, Rachel thinks to herself that this might just be the best birthday ever.


End file.
